BAY LAKE, Fla. – A popular Walt Disney World tradition has officially hopped back into the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
Disney chefs and culinary teams on Tuesday helped escort a handful of large egg-shaped masterpieces into the resort’s lobby. Disney guests and cast members alike applauded as many of the eggs began to take their places around the lobby.
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For more than two decades, guests have been given the opportunity to see the egg-ceptional showcase of artwork come to life in new ways each spring. Each egg is decorated to tell classic Disney stories such as “The Sword in the Stone,” “Bambi,” “Alice in Wonderland” and many more.
New to this year’s lineup is an egg that pays tribute to the Sun Bonnets from the Country Bear Jamboree and everyone’s favorite citrus bird, Orange Bird.
Another bird making headlines this year is a giant display of Kevin, from the Disney-Pixar animated film “Up.” The egg was brought to life thanks to Chef Fabiola Vazquez, assistant pastry chef at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
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“The blessing is that our chef allows us to create whatever we want, big or small,” said Vazquez. “I always try and go above and beyond. I don’t like to stay in a box, and I like to throw an idea out there and see if it lands -- and most of the time it does, but Kevin was an idea that I got after I visited Animal Kingdom.”
Last year, Vazquez stole the show with another stunning Easter egg display that was in the shape of Cinderella’s carriage.
“Kevin had to be glorious -- I wanted her to be standing, but it would have been 15 feet, so we made her sitting,” Vazquez pointed out.
Guests will also see some returning displays, including an Avengers, Ratatouille, Encanto and Snow White-inspired eggs.
“In December, we’re asking our cast to come up with the sketches of their creations and then we discuss how we will execute it,” said Kristine Farmer, pastry chef at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. “Once the design gets approved, they get working on it and it takes months to complete.”
Each finely decorated egg is made with edible products such as fondant, sugar floral, royal icing, colored cocoa butter, sculpted sugar pieces. Disney said overall, 500 pounds of chocolate was used to magically bring the eggs to life. Moving each of the eggs to their spot is a delicate process. Disney said each display weighed 10 to 50 pounds and some stand from about 8 inches to an incredible 6.5-feet tall.
“This project is all cast driven it’s what they’re passionate about - and next to some of the eggs we’re going to have little stories about the cast member and their vision and why they wanted to do that subject matter,” Farmer said.
In addition to the eggs, Disney is also bringing back the Grand Cottage for a second year.
During select times of the day, the 12-foot square garden-themed venue will sell delicious Easter goodies, including the famous Hot Cross Buns, Carrot Blondie Pops, Milk Chocolate Bunnies and so much more.
“We just love the interaction with our guests. This year, we’re going to have live egg paintings so guests can interact with that painter and talk about the process of painting cocoa butter onto eggs,” Farmer concluded.
The eggs will be on display at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa through April 10. Guests can also see the beautiful displays at Disney’s Contemporary Resort 4th floor concourse from March 15 to April 10 and Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort from March 20 to April 9.
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